American comeback under President Obama

After my column
this week, “The Great American Comeback,” more good news was released
that housing foreclosures had reached a four-year low. The Thursday
jobless claims numbers showed a decline to 339,000, a four-year low. The
job report last week showed unemployment had declined to 7.8 percent, a
four-year low. At the very opening of the ABC Network News Thursday
evening, ABC quoted improved housing numbers and asked: Is the recovery
coming to a town near you? You bet it is.

There is more good news. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is now within reach of a all-time high. Retirement 401(k) plans have soared in value since President Obama took office and in some cases have risen by 100 percent from their values when President George W. Bush took office. Home sales are on the rise again. Home prices have begun to increase again. The increase in the value of homes and the increase in the value of 401(k) plans have both increased the net worth of countless Americans, compared to when President Bush left office and President Obama took office.

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There is more good news. Made in America auto sales have gone through the roof, compared to when President Obama took office. Made in America auto jobs have skyrocketed since President Bush left office and President Obama assumed office.

There is more good news. Bank lending has begun to rise again. Consumer confidence has been rising again. General optimism has been rising again.

America is coming back. The American comeback under President Obama is well under way. This American comeback, not negative attacks against Mitt Romney, should be the major focus of Democratic campaign ads. This American comeback, not scoreboard points of petty politics, should be the president's lead message in the final debates.

For today, I leave you with one economic point and one political point.

The economic point is this: Our economy is no panacea and my analysis is no Pollyanna. There is too much hurt in America today. But what is happening economically is what happens when all great crashes end and all great recoveries begin. The data points turn from negative to positive, as they have. The good news begins to outweigh the bad news, which it is. And over time the next Morning in America will begin, which it will.

During Bush the curve was downward; during Obama the curve is now upward. There will be more good news and some bad news, but the inflection point has been reached and passed. In the big picture, the great American comeback from the epic crash of our age has arrived, and will grow.

The political point is that voters are tired of insults being hurled by candidates, and have begun to turn off much of the media, which is obsessed with negativity, scoreboard reporting and tactic talk when what matters to voters are the things that affect their daily lives.

I do not call the election, but I do call this:

President Obama will win Ohio, because voters in Ohio know what President Obama did and what Republicans opposed to save the auto industry, and voters in Ohio agree with me that the great American comeback has come to the Buckeye State.

President Obama should proudly talk about the great American comeback that began on his watch and will accelerate even more if he is given a second term.

If Republicans want to tell voters how negative they are, they will lose the election.

Voters want to believe in the great American comeback, and even better, the numbers prove that America is great comeback nation that is moving forward again, under President Obama.